Italian Serie A football team Inter Milan has entered into a partnership with Chinese internet company Le Sports for carriage of its club television channel.
The company has agreed a two-year deal to become the exclusive broadcast partner of the Inter Channel across mainland China. The agreement will conclude at the end of 2017.
Le Sports will broadcast Inter Channel programmes across its television, website and mobile platforms. The network features highlights packages from Inter’s Serie A and Coppa Italia matches, managerial press conferences, pre- and post-match interviews, documentaries and other behind-the-scenes content. The deal will also permit Le Sports to produce a small amount of local content.
“As everyone is aware, Le Sports is also the exclusive new media broadcaster of Serie A in mainland China,” Le Sports chief executive Lei Zhenjian said. “Serie A and Inter are very popular on our platforms and we believe this partnership with Inter will greatly boost the influence of both the club and Serie A in China.”
Michael Bolingbroke, chief executive of Inter Milan, added: “This new partnership with Le Sports is a major step for Inter in China. The broadcasting of Inter Channel across all Le Sports platforms will bring the experience of following Inter that much closer to our Chinese followers while at the same time helping to build the Inter brand.”